Some students involved in the Fresh Start program have decided the rules are too hard to follow. The program aims to retain students through a stringent rule system and involvement in community activities.

Eric Moberg, former Friley resident, was one student who found the rules difficult to follow.

“I can’t say I was that surprised about [the rules],” said Moberg, freshman in engineering. “I heard a lot of campuses were trying to clean that stuff up.”

There are nearly 2,500 students in the program, which is active in Maple Hall and the Union Drive Association, with approximately 70 percent being freshman students, said John Shertzer, residence life coordinator. This year, 25 students have been released from the program for violation of Fresh Start regulations, Shertzer said.

The program includes extra rules, added on to the regulations laid down for all on-campus living, Shertzer said.

Rule number one in the Fresh Start program is no alcohol, even if students are of legal age, Shertzer said. Even having an empty can of beer in a Fresh Start room is grounds for being asked to leave the program, Shertzer said.

“Fresh Start is zero tolerance. It means that if students are found in violation they are told to move from the Fresh Start program,” he said. “It could mean you were found consuming alcohol, it could mean you were found with an empty alcohol container.”

This is the rule Moberg said got him and nine of his friends a free pass out of Friley Hall and the Fresh Start program.

He said the 10 men were “just hanging out in a room” drinking alcoholic beverages when they heard a knock at the door. They opened the door without thinking and let their RA in, who immediately asked everyone for their identification cards.

“Everyone was real cooperative; they just handed over their IDs,” Moberg said. “We knew we were screwed.”

Students in the Fresh Start program are also not allowed to have visitors of the opposite sex after 1 a.m., Shertzer said.

Moberg was surprised to find this was a Fresh Start rule and said he had not had problems with it. “I can’t say that they really enforce it.”

Once students are asked to leave the system, there is not a set amount of time for students to vacate the premises, Shertzer said. Students are asked to leave within a “reasonable time frame.”

“We try to make is as easy for the students as possible,” he said. “We realize the students have made a mistake.”

Moberg said it only took him two days to find an available room and move out of Friley. He now lives in Freeman Hall along with five of the 10 men who were asked to leave Friley after the incident.

“I love it. I absolutely love it,” he said of his new room. “It’s very interesting to be around these guys.”

Moberg said he was not disappointed to leave the Fresh Start program.

“Nothing bad came out of it; it was a good learning experience,” he said. “My parents were fine with it, they just told me they were expecting some stories from college.”

Shertzer said students in the Fresh Start program are made aware of the rules early on, which helps them conform to the policies.

“We try our best to educate in the forefront,” he said. “Students are very aware of the policies.”

The system was designed with the idea first year students were more likely to succeed if they became involved in on-campus and off-campus activities, Shertzer said. While involvement is strongly suggested, it is not a requirement, he said.

“If you’re connected to the campus then you are more likely to succeed,” he said. “College is definitely a different academic arena than high school was.”

Students cannot be kicked out of the program for not being involved in extracurricular activities, although they can gain special privileges, like being allowed first choice at remaining in the program next year, Shertzer said.

“They are encouraged to do at least one community service project per semester. It’s not a matter of if you don’t do it you’re out,” he said.

Shertzer said the program has resulted in improvement of student retention rates in the past and is expected to remain a part of the Iowa State, although it is not planned to be a part of every residence hall on campus.